


Blood memory

by SourWolf



Series: Lessons Learned [13]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-07
Updated: 2012-05-07
Packaged: 2017-11-05 00:04:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/399698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourWolf/pseuds/SourWolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is having a hard time enjoying his first day at school so decides to sneak out at lunch. He ends up at Derek's only to discover that Jackson is there too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood memory

If I said it was the most awkward day of my life, would that mean anything? I wasn’t blind. I was perfectly aware of the fact that my life was full of awkward situations, social faux pas, and embarrassing moments. I ended up sleeping late and got to school five minutes late. Lydia’s little posse surrounded half of Scott because, of course, Allison was next to him and she was officially a popular girl now so everyone wanted to be near her and her little puppy.

And then on top of that, what good, sports-loving guy didn’t want to be near the new star and co-captain of the lacrosse team? So, yeah, long story short, the only empty seat in the classroom was next to a window. An open window with a breeze and singing birds and the smell of outside and freedom and probably grumpy werewolf and that wouldn’t help my attention at all. Especially not the part about angry sourwolves that could make freaking Fabio self-conscious with those looks and hates everything until the night you’re absolutely sure he has real feelings in there somewhere because he kisses you.

“Mister Stilinski.” The sharp voice of Mr. Harris broke me out of my thoughts. He was frowning at me, his slender body somehow managing to be sharp and frightening even though he didn’t have the imposing form of someone like, oh, say, any of the Hales. “If you’re going to daydream, you could at least take your seat first.”a

He sounded exasperated, but I pressed on anyway. The small school meant that teachers for some subjects – i.e. science – ended up teaching multiple classes. It was physics now, so while the class snickered at my attention deficit, I floundered in front of the class, which certainly did not help my standing in front of the people that couldn’t take me seriously anyway.

I walked to the seat next to Scott, standing unsurely next to Brian. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Mister Stilinski. Must you be so intteruptive?” Mr. Harris asked in annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at me. I swore that his glasses were acting like a magnifying glass in the sun. They focused his glare into a laser aimed at the back of my head. I could practically smell the burning hair as it bit its way into my flesh.

I flailed and spun around. “Mr. Harris!” I whined, pointing wildly at the class’ empty seat. “You want _me_ to sit _there_?”

He frowned at me, his eyes shifting between the empty desk and me before he gave in, but not without getting one more shot in at me. “Fine. I would hate for you feel separated from Mister McCall. Maybe this way you’ll be able to focus, even if it is on the love life he seems to be carrying on without you.”

Brian moved grudgingly, giving me a shove on his way to the back corner of the room. He smiled at him happily and sat down, looking at Scott to share in the joy that I got to sit with him despite being late. Instead of giving me his usual grin, he looked at me like Kuato from Total Recall or something.

“Now, may I continue with class or are there any more distractions that we must collectively suffer through?” Mr. Harris asked, his glare pointed at me again. So of course I motioned him on to his irritation.

At lunch the same thing happened, except this time no one even moved so I had the illustrious pleasure of sitting at the next table over, which just so happened to be more barren than the freaking Antarctic.

Even Lydia and Allison didn’t really talk to me. Lydia at least gave me that bored, pretty smile. Allison gave me a pitying grin that I secretly hated. She always looked so damn sorry that Scott wasn’t there, but who was the one taking him away?

I was so irritated with the world that I decided to take the rest of the day off. I snuck to the parking lot and was gone before anyone knew. Not that anyone was looking. Clearly, they weren’t. Not even Scott.

I don’t know why, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Definitely not thinking clearly. I was stewing about Scott avoiding me again when I thought things were getting better. I was harboring all kinds of resentment for that stupid smile Allison always gave me. I was pissed because for once, just freaking once in my life, I didn’t want to be completely invisible to people that I wanted to notice me. But I found myself on a dirt road. Not just any dirt road either. It was the old and still fairly overgrown road to the Hale house.

Derek and Jackson were standing outside by his Porsche. It looked like he had the same idea about skipping school. The only difference was that he had a reason to be at this burnt husk of a house. Derek’s body went tense when I pulled to a stop and he turned as though he was scenting the air for me.

It wasn’t until I got out of the car and was circling the hood that I realized Derek’s claws were out and his fangs were glistening. If I thought he was tense when I first pulled up, he went downright rigid when I got closer. A snarl ripped through the air and I jumped back, crouching down slightly and covering my head. I stared at the alpha wolf through my squinted eyes.

“I think I’m gonna barf.” I whispered to myself as I grew queasy at the sight of Derek’s bones blasting outwards.

How his skin didn’t burst open, I didn’t understand. His body adjusted to the change, his skin ballooning outwards to accept the elongating bones. Thick, black fur spread out from Derek’s usually well-kempt hair until it covered his entire twisting form. He stood tall, easily over eight feet at his full height once the shift ended. Was it strange that his back still looked amazing as a werewolf? Yeah. That was strange. Wiping that thought from my memory. Oh, God. Were those actual hackles? Was that tail raised and bristley? Oh, thank God he wasn’t facing me. I’d probably wet myself. How embarrassing would it be for dad to find the corpse of his son who soiled himself before dying?

I stared slack-jawed; my face colored with sickened surprise at Jackson went flying into a tree. I was going to be sick. Yup. Hello bile taste. Please don’t embarrass me, or my soon-to-be-alone father. Ow, ow, ow! I must have twisted my neck wrong while I stared at Jackson as he slammed into the poor tree, the bark flying off to the sides and the taste of bile getting even stronger at the sound of Jackson’s bones crunching. The claw marks were burning. I covered them to find a couple drops of fresh blood.

Oh, crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Fresh blood in front of an angry werewolf did not seem like it could possibly have a happy outcome.

But Derek ignored me. Even murderous, angry, werewolf Derek ignored me despite the fact that I was bleeding. Was I that freaking invisible? Instead, he stalked after Jackson as he crumpled to the ground and started trying to drag himself away from the angry alpha.

It was disgusting, violent, and probably dangerous to my health, my sanity, and most definitely dangerous to the contents of my stomach yet I couldn’t pull my eyes from the fight, if you call this one-sided slaughter a fight. Or Derek. His alpha form was different from Peter’s. Derek’s body was long and slender and more speed than power. Not that I thought he couldn’t tear anyone apart if he tried. There was plenty of power there to do whatever he wanted.

Right now, that power was busy beating the crap out of Jackson. Bone-shattering blows followed by deep scratches mixed in with the occasional bite. Whatever Jackson had lied about, Derek was going to make sure that he never did it again. Jackson was curled into a ball underneath Derek, his voice quivering from the tears I couldn’t see but was certain were falling down his face as he apologized repeatedly.

Thankfully, it didn’t last long. When he was finally finished with Jackson, he carried the blond’s body into the house. A softened thud and the creaking of old springs told me that he’d dropped Jackson onto the couch. I didn’t move from where I stood in front of my jeep with my hand cupping my aching neck that throbbing until I closed my eyes against the pain.

Then warmth. I could feel it before his hand even covered the one on my neck. He pulled the hand away and carefully touched the wounds. The throbbing faded away as his warmth soaked in.

“It stings.” I complained, pulling away from his touch. Derek let out an irritated grunt that was almost too human for the werewolf. A heavy hand gripped my shoulder and yanked me closer again. “Jeez, Derek. Gentle! Your stupid buddy Jackson did this.” I added to my complaint, trying to push him off.

His grip only tightened and something changed on his face when I finally got the courage to open my eyes. It was like something was there when he knew no one was looking, but his face hardened into its usual mask once there was someone to see it. But what was it? A little bird stirred in my chest, fluttered up to my ear and told me that it was worry, but I immediately scared me away. Derek wasn’t worried about me. He probably just felt responsible. He was, after all. Indirectly, but he was the alpha. That made it ultimately his fault, right?

He grabbed a fistful of my shirt and dragged me into his ruined house. I wish he hadn’t done that. I really wish he hadn’t done that. Jackson looked terrible. His clothes were rags that hugged his body and the skin that wasn’t turned red by blood was either black, blue, or that sickening yellow color.

“Derek! Don’t leave me here with – Uh, hey, Jackson. How ya doing, buddy?” I said, offering my hand before I realized it was stupid of me and withdrew it, sliding the hand through my hair instead.

Jackson stared up at me helplessly. I think it might have been an attempt at a glare, but he was too broken and pained to manage it properly. He groaned as a strange pop came from his stomach. Oh, man, was that a bone snapping back into place? Could werewolf bodies do that? Oh, that was gross.

Derek came back and put his hand back on my neck. This time there was a cooling sensation. He must have snuck some kind of cream onto his hand so I wouldn’t fight him. My head lolled to the side to let him continue as he spread that magical pain relief over my neck. He put a bandage on me after touching me for what was probably a little too long. His eyes never left my neck. He glared at the scabs as though he would be able to scare them off me once and for all until they were finally covered.

Then he walked to Jackson and lifted him into a seated position by his hair.

“What did I say?” Derek said into Jackson’s ear. His superficial wounds were gone already, but he was still covered in deep, discolored bruises. Would this be able to heal in time or him to even go to school tomorrow?

“In a pack, everyone takes care of each other.” Jackson answered weakly, his voice raspy.

“Does that seem like taking care of him to you?” The older werewolf hissed, his eyes flashing red. Jackson didn’t see the glowing eyes that were on my neck, but he flinched away from Derek’s voice. Or tried to, Derek’s hand in his hair stopped him from getting far. The hand tightened and Jackson’s hands went up to grip Derek’s wrist and he let out a gasp of pain and clenched his eyes shut.

“Alright, alright! Stiles, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have hurt you.” He said, his blue eyes on me as he swallowed hard. “And I shouldn’t have said that thing about your father either.” He said, falling back onto the couch when Derek let go of him.

I didn’t know what to say. I stood there with my mouth slightly open and my eyes moving between Derek and Jackson. Derek walked back outside and my feet followed him automatically.

“You beat him up for me?” I asked when we were standing by my jeep again.

He stared at me like I was stupid for a second before he glanced over his shoulder. “He needed to learn. He lied to me. He told me that all he did was help you, but when I smelled your blood I knew what happened. He shouldn’t have hurt you and he shouldn’t have lied to me. He needed to learn his place.”

I flailed, the anger I’d forgotten rekindling at the slightest provocation. “Well, if you wouldn’t have turned him in the first place, everything would have been fine!”

He crossed his arms over his chest, looking back towards the house. “He made an informed decision.”

“Informed decision? The worst he ever had to deal with was you. He doesn’t know what it’s like to have hunters after you or have to deal with a psycho alpha.” I argued, pointing wildly at the door and glaring at Derek.

“Stiles. If this is an argument to turn you, you know you have the option.” Derek answered calmly, his eyes on me calmly.

“Woah, woah, woah. No way, you aren’t changing the subject here. I made my choice with your uncle. I happen to like being human.”

“I know. I told him you would be a good addition.”

I stared blankly at Derek. “Wait. What?”

“I told him that you should be turned.” Derek repeated a little slower. Was he serious?

“Well. Uh. Yeah. Ummm. Hey, not the point! The point is that you shouldn’t have turned Jackson!” I stumbled around, reaching desperately for the right train of thought before finally grasping it.

“Why not? Because you don’t like him?” Derek questioned with a raised brow.

“What? No! Yes! But I don’t like him for good reasons. He does things like this!” I yelled, pointing at my neck.

“He won’t do it again. He won’t hurt you or scare you or be unreasonably mean to you anymore. It’s not something that can be undone, so you should just get used to it. When you get bitten, you turn. That’s the way it is.” Derek said, starting to get irritated with me now. He probably thought I was being childish. Maybe I was, but I had good reason.

“So, what, you think he’d just going to stop now? What happens if he does it again and it’s worse next time? You just going to give him a little beating whenever he puts someone – probably me – in the hospital?” I was still yelling, and my voice was getting higher. God, how unmanly could one teenage boy be?

“Stiles. He won’t touch anyone. Especially not you or your father. I’ll make sure of it.” He answered, irritation turning to anger. Were those claws? Damn, I was probably going to die now. Suddenly my train was derailed. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t really think of a reason not to trust Derek other than the fact he looked scary. He’d been around for us so far.

“What about Lydia?” I said, jumping somewhere else before my anger had the chance to die. “She was bitten! You don’t seem too concerned about taking care of her!”

“Lydia’s… different.” Derek answered cautiously, his brow knitting together.

“Different? What does that even mean?” I asked, throwing my hands up.

“She isn’t one of us.” Derek replied slowly, his words put together thoughtfully.

“Again. What?” I said, staring at him in confusion.

“Sometimes…” He trailed off, struggling to word it properly. “Some people reject the bite, Stiles. Their bodies just refuse to turn. It doesn’t happen to a lot of people, and most of them end up dying. But some people just stay human.”

“So, she’s not going to turn into a werewolf?” I asked, getting hopeful.

“I… don’t know.” He replied before sighing heavily. He shook his head and walked back towards his house. I followed after him, passing a sleeping Jackson as we moved deeper into the house.

“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re supposed to know this stuff. We need you to know this stuff.”

Derek stopped, turning to glare at me. “I don’t know.” He snapped at me, looming viciously over me. “It’s not like I had much of a chance to learn everything. She could stay a carrier; pass it on to her children. It could stay dormant and change her later. As far as I know, you can’t be certain with people who don’t take to the bite right away. It’s not as simple as you become a werewolf or you die for everyone. Is that good enough for you?” He asked, backing me against a wall.

“Fine! Geez, calm down, okay? Is it a full moon or something? You guys are all acting weird. Scott didn’t even talk to me today.” I said, pushing him back a step.

His brow furrowed and he looked at me incredulously. “You mean you don’t know that tonight is a full moon?” He asked curiously. “And you smell like blood. Scott’s probably just worried about you.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess I should have paid attention. But I’ve been having nightmares lately. It’s been hard to focus and adderall’s just been making me jittery.” I answered, leaning against the wall and sighing.

He looked at me, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve been seeing things. I’m guessing New York?”

How did Derek always seem to know what was bothering? Unless, of course, it was about him. I nodded a little, looking down.

He let out a sigh, like he completely regretted what he was going to say already. “Need to talk about it?”

“Well. Not really. Just. How?” I asked, more curious about what was giving me these images and moments from a trip I never took and experiences I’ve never had.

“The bite works because we share our gift, Stiles. A scratch is the same, just to a lesser degree. You got a little bit of Jackson. Whatever he was thinking about, something with strong emotion tied to it, maybe, even just a few of his recent memories.” He explained with surprising patience. “You get more when you’re in a pack together or if your bond is strong.”

“Oh.” I answered simply, wondering why I never knew this before. “So… Theoretically…” I started, knowing that I was about to tread on some dangerous ground. “If I shared a… close bond with a werewolf, then I would get a memory from something like… a kiss, then, right?”

Derek didn’t even try to hide his exasperation this time. He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at me. “No. You wouldn’t get anything like that. It’s the blood, I think.” He answered, faltering a little at the end like it was something he should have remembered but couldn’t and he was frustrated with himself for it.

“Oh. Well, that doesn’t help.” I said, picking at the bandage lightly. It was starting to itch now.

Derek swatted my hand away, pressing the bandage down again. “Stop messing with it. You’re going to give yourself an infection.”

I rolled my eyes at him and pushed his head off of me. “This coming from the guy that creepily rubs random creams all over teenage boys.” I shot back, looking up at him.

The alpha stared at me, trying to figure out the depth of my meaning. After a while, he gave up and crossed his arms over his chest again. “It was antibiotic.” He said shortly, turning his back to me and walking back towards the living room where Jackson slept. “You should go. I don’t want you around when the moon comes up. It’s going to be hard enough being his first full moon.”

“Yeah… right.” I answered, following slowly. “Hey, Derek.” I said softly so I wouldn’t end up waking Jackson.

“Hm?” He grunted, tilting his head towards me.

“You said Jackson gave me part of him. Does that mean I smell like him now?” I asked, uncomfortable with the idea of somehow being more Jackson-y than should be humanly allowable.

“A little. It’s not strong, but it’s there.” Derek growled, turning away from me and starting up the stairs. “Now get out. You should tell Scott to come. It’ll be better for him if he runs with us tonight.” The older man growled, disappearing into his room.


End file.
